Gotta give you some solidarity here even though it's the unpopular opinion. As someone who's been Mac-centric for the past few years I have to say: anyone who claims that Apple supports devs as well as MS is on something.

Apple's documentation cannot begin to hold a candle to MSDN, their direct developer support even worse. Developing on MS platforms is a joy - it's straightforward with copious amounts of documentation provided directly by Microsoft.

Developing on iPhone/OSX is a pain. Much of the "documentation" resembles a Obj-C header file, important details hide in gigantic tomes of text with zero sample code to bring it out. Unexpected/weird behavior is rarely documented... the whole thing is a gigantic labyrinth that breeds tribal knowledge instead of documentation.

Ugh.

My experience with MSDN is one of the biggest reasons why I avoid Microsoft tools. Now you're telling me that Apple's documentation is much worse, and that depresses me.

The problem with straight-up documentation is that much of it is unreadable technobabble that makes no sense until you, say, throw in a diagram or a chunk of sample code. Then you go "oohhhhhh" and are enlightened.

Apple's documentation is "complete" insofar as all the major bits are written down somewhere, but it's very opaque and hard to read. Their ridiculous lack of diagrams, visualizations, and sample code also makes your life much more difficult than it must be.

In fact, I do not think there's ANY sample code anywhere that isn't a "sample project". As in, when Apple does decide to grace your presence with sample code, it's a large, integrated thing that really doesn't help you learn a specific API or component.

I will surely be downvoted into oblivion for saying this, but just about any comment that starts out with the claim that it is being posted with the expectation that people will downvote it is instant karma gold, whether there's any genuine merit to the comment or not.

Apple has always been oriented toward consumers, and Microsoft has always been oriented toward developers. I don't think there's anything new about this phenomenon. In Apple's early days, the consumers were hobbyists, and when they released the Macintosh, they made the transition to serving a non-technical market. Ever since then, I think they've essentially pursued the vision of releasing sealed, polished, all-in-one products. I think in Apple's ideal vision of the world, there would be little or no role for third-party developers.

I still prefer Macs (post-OS X) because I prefer Unix, and I like my iPhone because, well, it is a nice product. But I also hope the FCC delivers a healthy smackdown.

I love my apple products, but I agree, pretty much, with what you're saying. The million dollar question is why nobody with a better outlook seems capable of coming up with competitive products - is it something to do with Apple's approach, or not?*

* No, the assertion that people only buy apple for looks or status is not acceptable. I am fundamentally uncool, have long since lost the desire to become so, and yet I love a lot of apple's products for their usability and attention to detail.

Amen, good to hear this sort of thing coming from a fellow Apple user. Microsoft's 'ecosystem' is far more open than Apple's, so Apple is hardly becoming Microsoft -- they're becoming less and less like Microsoft. In terms of developer and community support, that's bad. In terms of high-quality easy-to-use products that I will love to use, that's very good.